Hair-clipper



(No Model.)

J. K. PRIEST. HA'IR GLIPPERS. No. 445,081. Patented Jan. 20, 1891.

UNrrEn States PATENT OFFICE.-

JOSEPH K. PRIEST, OF NASHUA, NEW' HAMPSI'HRE.

HAlR-CLIPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 445,081, dated January 20, 1891.

Appplication filed October 30,1890. Serial No. 369,833. (No model.)

To all whom 't may concern:

Be itknown that I, JOSEPH K. PRIEST, a citizen of the United States, residing at Nashua, in the count-y of Hillsborough and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hair-Clippers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. i

My invention relates to hair-clippers; and it consists in certain inprovements in the Construction of the same, as will be hereinafter fully described, whcreby their operation is greatly facilitated, the wear and tear of the noving parts diminished, and at the same time the work performed by them is greatly enhanced, and also annoyance to those upon whom the nplenent is used avoided.

In hair clippers of the most approved known Construction the lower cutter or combplate has been found to have the disadvantage of adhering to the skin when pressed down and forced over it in the act of cutting the hairshort, this adherence being especially annoying during warm weather, when the skin is nore or less moist. The tendency of the comb-plate to adhere to the skin greatly interfcres with the operation of the clipper, it preventing it sliding readily over the skin and causing the skin to be crowded or forced into folds ahead of it.

Comb-plates have heretofore been provided with longitudinal eorrugations with the obj ect of preventing them from taking a hold by adhesion on the skin; but this construction has not proved satisfactory, because the tendency to adhesion between the comb-plate and the skin is only slightly overcome and not effectually prevented. By practice it is found that straight undivided corrugations, in whatever direction they may be arranged upon the bottom of the comb-plate do not prevent adhesion of the skin to the combplate; but by providing the bottom of the comb-plate with a conminuted surface or a surface With a great number of depressions between surface, or bearing-elevations which are separated and of either curved, circular, diamond, or rectangular forma-Lion, the skin will not be cansed to form bunches and to readily enter the depressions between the said elevations in such manner as to fasten itself by adhesion to the conb-plate, and hence comb-plates constructed on my improved plan work with great ease and without annoyance to those upon whom the clippers are used.

In tle acconpanying drawings, Figure 1 is a top view of my improved hair-clipper. Fig. 2 is a vertical section in the linetxof Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a section through the 'main spring in the line 1 y of Fig. 4, showing other co-operating parts in elevation. Fig. 4 is a top View of the hair-clipper, the housing of the main spring, the cutter, tension-screw, and spring, the comb-plate and the cutter-plate being onitted. Figs. 5, G, and 7 are bottom Views of comb-plates with my improved depressions of different designs on their under surface, the same being equivalents of one another.

The letter A in the drawings represents the stationary part of the hair-clipper. It consists of an arm a and a top plate a'. The arm a, is provided with a thumb-lug a of usual Construction, and is formed with the plate a'. The platc a' has a project-ing bea-ring (0 whereby it holds the cutter-plate B down upon the comb-plate C. A cylindrical hearing a* is provided 011 the lower portion of plate a', to which hearing an armD is fitted. This arm is provided witn an ordinary finger-guard (Z and a short lever CZ', which latter is laterally inclosed by the walls of a notch b in the cutter-plate B, as means whereby to operate the cutter-plate. The fulcrum portion CP of the arm D is held to the plate a' by means of a nut (1 screwed to a threaded end portion of' of the same. This end portion (IF is made long enough to serve as an abutment to the rcar portion of the conb-plate O and to hold it away froni the arm D. The comb-plate is drawn to the cutter-plate by means of a bolt E, nut e', and spring e The bolt E is provided with a fiat head 6 and lug e& which are both fitted into the lower side of the comb plate C. It is passed through a slot b' in the cutter-plate Band tl'rough the plate a' in the upper side of which a suitable seat a for the spring e is provided said seat having a socket of for steadying the angular end portion 6 013 the spring. The nut e' is provided with a IOC lower cyli'drical housing 6 for the reception of the upper portion of the spring.

The main spring F is placed quite loosely around a projection a of and upon the rear portion of the plate a', between the arms a and D, and is held in place by two pins ff', fastened to or cast with the plate a' and the stud a The pin f stands perpendicularly to the plate a' and abuts on the lower coils of the spring F, while the uppermost coil f is situated above the top of the pin fand is free and unstrained in its movements. The pin f' stands about diametrically opposite the pin d and inclined toward the same, so that the lowest coil f of the spring F bears on its base, whereby the upper coils are left free to contract and expand when the hair-clipper is operated.

Heretofore in hair-clippers the main spring has been fitted upon the projection a and no allowance foruniforn centi-action afforded. This Construction has proved unsatisfactory, for the reason that the contraction is not always uniform, but greatest near the movable arm, and therefore the upper spring coils While centi-acted have been forced to assume au unnatural shape around the projection co i and bind against it, causing unnecessary frietion and strain upon the upper coils of the spring. The coils of the spring F are housed in a cap f which is fastened to the projec` tion a by a screw f The comb-plate C is of ordinary construotion, except that its lower surface is provided with depression c, which may be, as in Figs 5 and 6, circular, or, as in Fig. 7, straight linear and arranged in two sets crossing each other and standing at inclinations to the longitudinal side of the comb-plate. By these respective constructions lines parallel with the longitudinal sides of the comb-plate are avoided, and in moving the hair clipper forward over the skin the broken or comminuted surface of the conb-plate will prevent the immediaie entering of the skin into its irregular depressious, a result which cannot be accomplished When such depressions are straight and continuous or without lateral or transverse interruptions orintersections. The same result Will be accomplished by using annular depressions intersecting each other like links of a chain linked together, and an approxination to the result might be accomplished by providing zigzag-shaped depressions inthe under surface of the conb-plate.

By constructing the under surface of the comb-plate in the nianner hereinbefore described, while its operation is greatly improved in the nanner set forth the combpla-te is much stronger and will not spring away at the outer edges from the cutter, the circular ribs or the diagonal ribs tending to resist any such liability of the plate springing in the nanner stated, they giving st-iffuess to the plate transversely of its length.

What I claim as my inventiou is- 1. In a hair-clipper. in combination, the arms a, and D, the ,spring F, perpendicular pinf, bear-ing against the lower coils of the spring, and inclined pin f', bearing against the bottom coil of said spring, substantially as described.

2. In a hair-clipper, the comb-plate having its under surface provided with depression c between its com minuted hearing-surface portions, said depressions being cut across the path of movement of the hair-clip er, sub stantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereuntoaffix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH K. PRIEST.

Witnesses:

E. B. GoULD, T. H. RoGERs. 

